Vito Corleone's The Godfather Timeline Explained (In Chronological Order)

Vito Corleone was already a rich and powerful crime lord when audiences first met him in The Godfather, but the prequel segments of The Godfather Part II filled in his complex (and tragic) backstory. After first appearing in Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel The Godfather, Vito was introduced to movie audiences in Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation in 1972. The Vito played by Marlon Brando in the first Godfather movie is already established as one of America’s most notorious mafia kingpins.

When Coppola followed it up with The Godfather Part II, he went back and explored Vito’s origin story as an orphaned Sicilian immigrant who moved to New York and launched a criminal empire. He was played by Oreste Baldini as a boy and by Robert De Niro as a young man. Brando and De Niro became the first actors to win Oscars for playing the same role, highlighting just how iconic a character Vito is. His complicated backstory takes him from his birth in Sicily in 1891 to his death on Long Island in 1955.

1891: Vito Corleone Was Born “Vito Andolini” In Corleone, Sicily

The movie gives a different date of birth than the book

Vito’s story began in Corleone, Sicily, in 1891, where he was born Vito Andolini. In the novel, Vito’s date of birth is mentioned to be April 29, 1887, which is the date seen on his tombstone in the first movie. However, the second movie retconned Vito’s birthdate to be December 7, 1891.

1901: Vito’s Family Is Killed By A Local Mafia Boss

Vito manages to escape to America to start a new life

In 1901, after Vito’s father Antonio refused to pay tribute to a local mafia boss named Don Ciccio, Ciccio murdered Antonio. Vito’s older brother, Paolo (presumably the one who was retconned to be born in 1887), swore vengeance against the mob boss, but Ciccio’s men killed him, too. When Ciccio ignored Vito’s mother’s pleas to spare Vito – fearing that Vito would seek revenge later in life – Vito’s mother held a knife to Ciccio’s throat to give Vito a chance to escape. Ciccio’s men killed Vito’s mother, but Vito got away.

Friends of the Andolini family smuggled Vito out of Sicily and put him on a ship full of immigrants traveling to America. At Ellis Island, an immigration officer changed his name to Vito Corleone, presumably mistaking his hometown for his surname. (Vito would later use Andolini as his middle name to honor the family legacy.) Vito was taken in by the Abbandando family, distant relatives living on New York’s Lower East Side in Little Italy. Vito befriended the Abbandandos’ son, Genco, and worked at their grocery store, but was fired when local mobster Don Fanucci demanded they hire his nephew.

1920: Vito Begins A Life Of Crime & Kills Don Fanucci

Vito takes over the neighborhood

In 1920, Vito began his life of crime when small-time criminals Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio taught him how to fence stolen clothes and do favors in exchange for loyalty. Fanucci learned about Vito’s operations and threatened to report them to the police if they didn’t give him a cut of their profits. So, Vito schemed to kill Fanucci. He followed Fanucci on his walk home and shot him dead outside his apartment.

Vito then took over the neighborhood and treated the people with more respect and fairness than Fanucci ever did. He and Genco teamed up to launch an olive oil importing company called the Genco Pura Olive Oil Company, which became the nation’s biggest olive oil importer. This became the front for Vito’s organized crime operations, and between his legal and illegal business endeavors, Vito became obscenely rich.

1922: Vito Returns To Sicily

Vito goes back to the old country to settle an old score

In 1922, Vito went back to Sicily for the first time since he fled as a child. Vito and his colleague Don Tommasino killed all of Don Ciccio’s men who were involved in the deaths of Vito’s family. When Vito met an ailing, elderly Don Ciccio, Ciccio didn’t recognize him. Vito approached Ciccio, revealed himself to be the son of Antonio Andolini, and cut into Ciccio’s stomach as a gruesome act of vengeance. Tommasino took over the town and became Vito’s closest ally in the old country for decades that followed.

Early 1930s: The Corleone Crime Family Is Born

The Corleones become notorious

By the early 1930s, Vito had established the Corleone crime family as one of the most powerful crime families in the United States. Genco was his consigliere and Clemenza and Tessio were his caporegimes. Vito unofficially adopted his oldest son Sonny’s friend Tom Hagen, who would eventually become his trusted lawyer. Sonny grew up to become Vito’s capo, heir apparent, and de facto underboss. Vito’s second-born son, Fredo, was given unimportant responsibilities due to his weakness, and Vito’s youngest son, Michael, wanted nothing to do with the family business and enlisted to fight in World War II.

1939: Vito Moves His Operations To Long Beach

Tom Hagen takes over for an ailing Genco

Sometime around 1939, Vito – usually referred to as “Don Corleone” or “The Godfather” – moved his operations to Long Beach, New York, on Long Island. When Genco was diagnosed with cancer, Hagen took over his duties. Vito prided himself on being a fair and reasonable crime boss, but he occasionally endorsed the use of violence to get what he wanted (like when he had his hired gun Luca Brasi use the threat of murder to get his godson Johnny Fontane out of a singing contract).

1945: Vito Hosts Connie’s Wedding & Survives Two Assassination Attempts

Virgil Sollozzo tries (and fails) to kill Vito twice

In 1945, when the first Godfather movie picks up, Vito hosted his daughter Connie’s wedding to small-time crook Carlo Rizzi. He honored the Sicilian tradition of granting favors on the day of his daughter’s wedding, which led to two college students being beaten up for sexually assaulting Amerigo Bonasera’s daughter, and a severed horse’s head ending up in a Hollywood movie mogul’s bed. Drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo asked Vito to invest in his heroin business, but Vito declined, thinking that the judges and politicians in his pocket would turn against him if he got involved in drug trafficking.

Sollozzo didn’t take the news too well and sent hitmen to assassinate Vito at a fruit stand. Vito survived the assassination attempt and was taken to hospital, where Sollozzo made a second attempt on his life. Mark McCluskey, a crooked police captain on Sollozzo’s payroll, removed Vito’s bodyguards, leaving his hospital room unguarded. Luckily, Michael arrived just in time to move his father to another room and evade the assassins. There, the family’s last holdout pledged his loyalty to Vito.

1955: Vito Dies Of A Heart Attack

“Life is so beautiful”

Towards the end of The Godfather, on July 29, 1955, Vito dies of a heart attack while he’s playing in his garden with his grandson, Michael’s son Anthony. After surviving several assassination attempts, Vito gets to die peacefully. In the novel, Vito’s last words are, “Life is so beautiful.”

The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola directed this 1978 classic that would go on to become one of the most iconic crime films ever made. Starring Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino, The Godfather gives a tense and introspective look into the Corleone crime family of New York City.